Blackout
by AndAllThatMishigas
Summary: Newlyweds Jed and Abbey get stuck in the dark and struggle to navigate their London apartment.


Author's Note: This story is based on a tumblr prompt that I don't want to reveal because it would give away the story. Please review!

 **Blackout**

Abbey liked Wednesdays. She liked Wednesdays because Jed only had class in the morning, so he would meet his thesis advisor in the afternoon and be home before five o'clock. Most weekdays, he was studying in the library until dinnertime. She couldn't blame him, though. Their London flat was barely put together, with boxes still piled up in every single room. Abbey was unpacking the best she could, though she was often interrupted by random bouts of morning sickness. Being a pregnant newlywed in a new city mostly on her own was not really what she envisioned when they'd gotten married five months earlier.

On this particular Wednesday, Abbey was about to start making dinner. Jed was finishing up some reading in his study. That study would soon be converted into a nursery for the baby, but for now it had a desk and a bookshelf in there for him to use.

"Jed, dinner will be ready in about half an hour," she called.

"Alright, thanks!" he shouted back.

And just as Abbey went to preheat the oven, everything went dark. She blinked a little, confused at what had happened. It took her a moment to realize the power had gone out. Unsure of what else to do, she yelled, "Jed!"

He had been similarly plunged into darkness. He stood up from his desk and tried to navigate around to the door. Thanks to the constant movement of furniture and boxes, he wasn't very confident in the layout of the room. He swore loudly upon running into the edge of a chair. That would probably leave quite a bruise on his hip.

Abbey heard him say a few choice words she had rarely heard escape his lips and laughed to herself. "Honey, you okay?" she asked, hoping her voice would lead him to her.

"I'll be fine. Damn chair," he grumbled. He did find his way to the kitchen, his hands reaching blindly in front of him to prevent any further damage.

"Can you tell if the power is out everywhere or just here?" she asked. Abbey probably could have looked out the window for herself, but she didn't want to have any accidental injury trying to find her way around the house. She could nurse Jed back to health later. She was pregnant and thus entitled to avoid any danger she wanted to get out of.

Jed was able to catch a glimpse out of the living room window on his way to the kitchen. There were no streetlights to be seen. The only illumination coming from the headlights of cars rushing up and down the high street. "Looks like there's a blackout. I'll try to find the radio so we can get some news, hopefully."

"Be careful," she warned.

"Do we have any candles anywhere?" he asked, hoping to avoid complete darkness, if possible.

Abbey didn't want to move one inch from where she was. But it probably wasn't fair to make Jed to everything. "I think we might. I might have unpacked some a couple weeks ago. I think I put them in the bedroom."

"Good, that's where candles belong," Jed quipped.

Abbey smirked. "I don't know where the matches are, though. Do you have some in your school bag with your cigarettes? Or a lighter, maybe?"

"You go find candles while I get the radio, and hopefully we can meet up with candles and lighter in a few minutes," he suggested.

"Fine," she replied begrudgingly. She didn't like the idea of wandering around the dark apartment all by herself. But she slowly shuffled down the hall to the pitch-black bedroom. She reached over to the wall and flipped on the light switch out of habit, but obviously nothing happened. Abbey began to feel slightly anxious, but she wasn't sure if it was due to the situation or if the pregnancy was bringing on another bout of nausea. Hopefully she wouldn't need to throw up; she had no idea how to reach the bathroom in time if she needed to.

"Abbey, how are you doing?" Jed asked, making his way to the bedroom.

"I don't know where anything is," she whined. "This is absolutely stupid! I cannot believe we are stuck here in the dark. And I have no idea where those candles might be. But since that's our only possible source of light, we don't really have a choice." She was getting more and more annoyed with passing second.

Jed could tell she was starting to become overwhelmed. He couldn't blame her. He felt a little helpless himself, and he didn't even have a person growing inside him. An idea popped into his head and he decided to just go with it. "We can find the candles together in a minute. Come here." He could just make out the outline of her standing near him and reached out to her.

Abbey felt Jed's hand on his shoulder. Thinking that she could use a nice hug, she turned around and tried to make her way into his arms. But instead of holding her close, Jed took her right hand in his left and felt his right hand around to her waist.

"I get no kick from champagne. Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all. So tell me, why should it be true that I get a kick out of you," Jed began to sing, leading her in a lazy little dance.

Abbey couldn't help but smile. All of her frustration started to melt. She hummed along with his Sinatra impression and rested her cheek on his shoulder as the danced.

Jed sang another three songs, holding his wife close and swaying with the rhythm of the jazz tunes. In the middle of his rendition of Witchcraft—during which Abbey ran her fingers through his hair in accordance with the lyrics—the lights came back on.

"Oh thank god!" she exclaimed.

"See, we didn't even need the candles," he pointed out.

Abbey's nose wrinkled up as she grinned at him. "This was a lovely way to spend a blackout, babe, thank you."

"I just didn't want you to get upset over anything."

"And I'm not. Everything is fine," she assured him. "Though I am a little surprised that we didn't just make out until the lights came back on. We might be married with a baby on the way, but I think we're still young enough for that to be an acceptable use of time in the dark."

Jed's eyes went wide. "I didn't realize that was an option."

"It's always an option."

Without another word, Jed darted over to the wall and quickly turned out the light before taking Abbey in his arms and silencing her throaty laugh with his lips. They stumbled over to the bed and landed rather roughly. Abbey was still laughing but soon the only sound she could make was a moan of appreciation. Dinner would have to wait a little longer, but neither of them really cared.


End file.
